Takashi Murakami

AGE: 46
OCCUPATION: Artist
PREVIOUS APPEARANCES ON THE TIME 100: 1

PRO: His vibrant, trippy, occasionally hypersexualized work is beloved by celebrities (Kanye West, Marc Jacobs) and art collectors (My Lonesome Cowboy, his sculptural ode to onanism, sold last year for $15 million).

CON: Art critics have sneered at Murakami's unapologetic cross-pollination of art and commerce.